


when I do what I love, I find myself looking back again

by orphan_account



Category: Set It Off (Band)
Genre: Demons, Multi, Van Days
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-27 03:46:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18296195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Maxx is tired and he's just trying to get some rest. Touring in a band is a lot more work than he imagined when he first wished for this life. Sheer exhaustion puts him to sleep as they're driving along darkened highways after the show.And then... CRUNCH!





	when I do what I love, I find myself looking back again

**Author's Note:**

  * For [peppermintrocha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/peppermintrocha/gifts).



Maxx stirs from his exhausted slumber as the van hits something with a dull crunch, rattling him and everything inside the van. He tries to blink himself into alertness. It’s hard, since he’s really fucking tired. He gave his all at the show last— actually, a few hours ago, probably, and right now he’s lying on the middle row of the van with Zach, warm and— 

“That wasn’t a human, right?” Cody’s voice asks.

“Um,” Dan’s voice says faintly. “If it was, it’s not—”

“Wait, _what_!?” Maxx yells, sitting up. Suddenly he is very, _very_ awake. “We hit a person!?”

“No,” Cody says immediately, right as Dan says “Uhh…”

Zach tries to push him back down onto the seat. “Hey, it’s fine. We’re still moving, so it can’t have damaged the van too much—”

“Fuck,” Maxx says, struggling against Zach’s gentle but firm pressure. “No, that’s not why I’m. Just stop the van. Where did— did you just hit the person and _run_? Dan?”

Maxx catches Dan’s reflection in the rear view mirror. Dan— or rather, the demon that calls himself Dan that is possessing the shell of his former bandmate’s body— just smiles and shrugs. “I mean, it could have just been a pothole. Or a tumbleweed. They have those out here, don’t they?” 

“No,” Maxx says.

“I bet they do,” the demon that calls himself Cody protests. He turns around in the front passenger seat to look back at Maxx. “I think I saw one a couple minutes ago.”

“We’re in fucking New Jersey, they definitely don’t have tumbleweeds here,” Maxx says, still trying to get out from under Zach. The third of the demons that Maxx made a deal with to motivate his lame and uninspired bandmates, who took Maxx’s rather vaguely-worded request and fucking ran with it.

Maxx wriggles out from under Zach’s arms and throws himself over the seats to get to the front of the van. Before he can do anything drastic like grab the wheel from Dan’s hands, Dan sighs and pulls off to the side of the road. He parks the car, but leaves the engine running.

As Maxx climbs out, he’s made aware of just how fucking tired he is. His legs feel like they’re made out of Jello, and the bright light from the van’s headlights makes his eyes hurt. Shakily, he stumbles to the front of the van to check out the bumper.

It’s got a giant dent in it.

“NO!” Maxx says, falling to his knees in front of the van. “We killed someone!”

“Wait a second. Isn’t that from driving into that wall at the venue two night ago?” Zach says, leaning close to examine it. 

Dan and Cody look at each other. “Uh, maybe?” Dan says.

“I thought we un-dented that dent,” Cody says. “Did we forget to do that?”

“I, um, didn’t try to do that,” Dan says. “I thought you were going to do it, since you suggested it.”

“I forgot,” Zach confesses. “That show was insane, remember? And remember, after it, Maxx—”

Maxx looks up at the three of them, standing just behind him. “Wait, so what did we hit then?”

“A pothole, probably.” Dan says. He reaches down to pull Maxx up to his feet and then pats him reassuringly on the back. “Come on, let’s all get back in the van. We’ve still got, like, three more hours of driving to do.”

They all get back in, but Maxx doesn’t go back to sleep once Dan starts driving again. He returns to the middle row to sit next to Zach. He watches the lights of the cars on the other side of the road, illuminating the inside of their van, packed with all their stuff. Maxx looks through the back window at the trailer behind them, taking a moment to hope— if that _was_ a pothole, the bump that woke him up didn’t fuck up any of their equipment. 

If he brings up that concern to the demons, they’ll probably stop again so he can check but… well, it should be okay. It wasn’t too bad, Maxx thinks. He returns to leaning against Zach’s side. In the front, Cody’s got his phone out with a GPS app on it, periodically telling Dan how many more miles they’ve got until their next turn. 

Zach puts an arm around him and cradles him close. “Hey,” he says softly, quiet enough that the other two probably won’t hear. “It’s alright. Dan’s not going to hit anyone. We’ve gotta fulfill our contract to you, after all, and we can’t do that if we get arrested for killing a human with the van.”

Maxx laughs nervously, unsure of a proper response to that. What a fucking situation he’s got himself into. This is what he asked for, though. Not instant fame, but an exhilarating rise to it, with his bandmates, only more motivated. And irreversibly demon-possessed, now. 

“We’ve got this far,” Zach keeps going. “Not just us, but, a lot of this has been you. Your ideas and your music and your dreaming.”

It’s way too late for a deep talk like this. Or maybe this is the only time for a talk like this, when he’s tired and his inhibitions are lowered. Conflicted, Maxx impulsively twists around in Zach’s arms and leans in close to kiss him. It’s a good alternative to talking about this, he thinks. Zach seems surprised at first, and Maxx is about to pull away, but then his arms wrap tightly around Maxx’s waist. He leans back so that Maxx is on top, and holds him there as they continue to kiss—

“Hey, wait, I hear kissing!” Cody yells from the front. There’s the faint sound of movement, followed by a thump as something— Cody probably— hits the floor of the van. “You fucking— Zach, you said you’d wait for us—”

Maxx and Zach break apart just in time for Cody to drop in on them. Literally. Cody flattens Maxx in between himself and Zach. A Maxx sandwich.

“All three of you wait!” Dan shouts. “Fucking damn it, I’m _driving_ , you’re not allowed to tease me like this!”

“Pull over again,” Cody says. He grabs Maxx and guides him upwards so he’s the one making out with him instead. Maxx closes his eyes and loses himself in it, just a little. Okay, no, a lot. 

“Three more hours!” Dan yells back. “Can’t you fucking sleep or do _anything_ besides fuck each other while I can’t—”

“Oh, there’s an idea,” Zach says, sitting up and pinning Maxx in between himself and Cody again. His hands go underneath Maxx’s shirt and Maxx drops his head back against Zach’s chest, breath going shaky. 

“Can— we maybe wait—” Maxx says, barely clinging onto his restraint as two pairs of hands touch every inch that sets him the fuck off. God, he really wants to do this, but… “For Dan?”

“I don’t want to,” Cody says, his teeth finding Maxx’s neck and biting. Maxx shudders and his hands grasp handfuls of Cody’s shirt. “But fine,” he mutters against Maxx’s skin. “We’ll wait.”

“Thank you Maxx,” Dan groans from the driver’s seat.

Maxx decides to remove himself from that and climbs over the seats to reach the front, leaving Zach and Cody pouting in the back. He takes the seat that Cody vacated and buckles himself in. Safety first. Nevermind how he was seconds away from being fucked by two demons on the middle bench seat back there, no seat belts involved at all. Or, maybe… no, stop that train of thought right there. Three more hours. 

“When we stop,” Dan says, in a very low whisper. “I’m gonna fuck you so hard that even sitting on a pillow won’t help you at the next show. Those two assholes in the back can _watch_ and _beg_ me to let them touch you.”

Maxx’s head thumps against the passenger dashboard, and the glove compartment falls open.

**Author's Note:**

> this is like... Maxx was in a band with people who weren't taking it seriously so he made a deal with demons for success in his band (not realizing what he was asking for) and ended up with three demons (Cody, Zach, and Dan) possessing his former bandmates and also in love with him :3


End file.
